What is your travel goal?
What is your dream trip? Do you just want to travel domestically here in the US to go see friends or family? Is that what you want to get out of this hobby?
If you have a specific goal in mind, feel free to write it in the comments, and I can either point you in the right direction, or show you to someone who can help.
What if you don't know the answers to these questions? That is where transferable card programs come in. Several cards that I would recommend for beginners fall into this category. These cards accumulate points in a program with the bank, where you can use the points in one of three ways:
1. Redeem bank points for a statement credit to offset the travel purchase you've just made on that card.
2. Use the rewards program's travel portal to redeem bank points for flights/hotel/rental cars using the brands that the portal spits out.
3. Transfer bank points to frequent flyer programs, usually 1 point = 1 mile.
What are the best every day cards for beginners?
The card's current bonus is 40,000 points after spending $3000 in the first 90 days.
You earn 2 miles per dollar on every purchase.
The card is great for those who travel in economy, because you can use these points as a statement credit to offset any travel purchase you would pay out of pocket. For example, I want to fly Seattle - Las Vegas for the weekend. The flights on Southwest are $200 round trip. I would use 20,000 points to get a statement credit for $200. However, the card gives back 10% of those points when redeeming for a travel related purchase, so you'd get 2000 back, which is worth $20 more later.
The awesome part is that you earn miles on Southwest's Rapid Rewards for the purchase because the airline sees it as a paid ticket. So if you buy a cheap fare on a program that awards you per mile distance, like Alaska, you'd get the 3,000 Alaska miles for flying cross country.
There is no fee the first year, then $89 after.
Chase Sapphire Preferred: Apply Here
*note: this is an affiliate link. You don't have to use it, but I'd appreciate it if you do.
The card's current bonus is 40,000 points after spending $4000 in 90 days.
It earns 2x points at restaurants/bars and travel purchases. The category of travel is very loose: taxi, tolls, parking, hotels, AirBnb, food on an airline... it all counts. The key is knowing what the merchant category is. One point per dollar everywhere else. It also has no foreign transaction fees.
You can earn an additional 5,000 points when you add an authorized user to the card and they make one purchase within 90 days.
The points are in a program called Ultimate Rewards, where you can transfer the points you earn, 1:1 to United, British Airways, Southwest, Korean Air, Hyatt Hotels, Marriott Hotels, IHG Hotels, and more. You could also use their travel portal and search for flights like you would on Kayak, then redeem the points as you would the Arrival card.
This is my go-to card and my workhorse. All around favorite and great card for beginners and experts alike.
No annual fee the first year, and $95 after.
Chase Ink Plus: Apply Here
This is a business card, so make sure that you have one before clicking the link!
Ink Plus offers 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $5,000 in 90 days.
Ink cards earn 5x on internet, telephone and cell phone bills. They also earn 5x points at office supply stores. 2x points on hotel and gas. 1 point everywhere else.
Same with the Sapphire, you are able to transfer points to all the same programs. You can also transfer your points to the Sapphire account, to combine for a bigger pot.
No annual fee the first year, and $95 after.
American Express Every Day Preferred: Let me know if you want to apply and I'll send you the link. Website was running weird, and I wanted to make sure you were getting the right one.
This has a 15,000 point bonus after spending $1,000 in 90 days.
It earns 3x points at supermarkets (does not include warehouses like Costco), 2x on gas stations, and 1x everywhere else.
If you swipe the card 30 or more times a month, you will earn 50% bonus on all the points you earned in that statement period. Essentially, at supermarkets it's like getting 4.5x per purchase!
AmEx points are in a program called Membership Rewards. They are much like Ultimate Rewards with Chase, but they have different airline and hotel partners. They include Air Canada, British Airways, Delta, Air France / KLM, JetBlue, Hawaiian, etc.
Don't waste your time transferring to hotels in this case. The ratio is not 1:1 and it's a bad value.
Here is an awesome post on what Membership Rewards points can do: MR Points Guide
$95 annual fee
American Express Starwood Preferred Guest: Apply Here
This card earns 25,000 total bonus Starpoints: 10,000 after your first purchase, and 15,000 after $5,000 spend in 6 months.
Starpoints are far and away the most valuable points program out there. They partner with over 30 airline programs, most on a 1:1 basis, and you receive a 5,000 point bonus when you transfer 20,000 points.
Starwood Hotels includes Westin, Sheraton, W, Le Meridien, etc. and they're all really nice properties. While some other programs cost you 20-30k points for a midrange hotel, I've redeemed only 3,000 Starpoints for great quality Sheratons. Most hotels fall between a 3,000-10,000 range, so they're a great value. So, if you meet the minimum spend on this card, you'd have enough points to redeem for 10 nights at select hotels!
I put all spend that is non-bonused (3x, etc) on this card.
No annual fee the first year, then $65 after.
Specific travel goal? Does this include Europe, Asia, South America, or Central America?
With the recent devaluations of the United and Delta award charts, American Airlines miles are the most valuable of the big three right now. American's miles are the undisputed champion of any luxury airline redemption. They also offer the cheapest redemptions in economy when you book during off peak season.As you may know, AA is merging with US Airways. Their frequent flyer programs will combine in the second quarter of 2015... that is NEXT MONTH!
However, Barclays is the card issuer of US Airways cards, and Citibank for American. Now that US is merging into American, Barclays will no longer be allowed to issue cards. They realize the opportunity lost, and are trying to gain customers now while they still can. So, they are offering an AMAZING deal, and American is taking note.
US Airways Premier World MasterCard: Apply Here
This card offers you 50,000 bonus miles with your first purchase. Seriously. 50,000 bonus miles for a drip coffee. You just have to pay the $89 annual fee right away.
This card will be converted over to an American card with Barclays and will no longer be available to apply. Rumor has it that the link goes down April 12, so hurry if you want these miles.
American Airlines Platinum Select MasterCard: Apply Here
This card offers 50,000 bonus miles after $3,000 in purchases in 90 days.
Your first checked bag is free for you and your companions. Priority boarding on the aircraft. 25% off in flight purchases. I think they may even send you a complimentary lounge pass or two.
Let's say you applied for both the US and AA cards on the same day. After meeting $3,000 spend in 3 months, you would have about 103,000 American miles when the programs combine next month.
What does that get you?
Eight one way tickets within the domestic United States including Hawaii. Or, four first class tickets.
A round trip ticket business class ticket to Europe. Or, 17,000 miles more and you'd bring a friend too, in economy.
35,000 miles to the Caribbean. Or South America. Or Central America. You have enough to bring two friends too, if you spent $2,000 more on the card.
Crazy. And all you'd need to do is spend $3,000. Or, $1,000 each month doing what you normally do, and pay $89 upfront. Told ya this stuff opens doors! :)
There is also a corresponding business card, if you wanted to apply and get 50,000 more! But, please space the applications out. You typically cannot get approved for more than two Citi products in the same day. You should wait at least 7, and typically 30 to get best results.
In conclusion...
The biggest mistake is collecting the wrong miles for the job. Not to say that what is in this post will necessarily be the best cards for you. I just outlined what are good starter cards for people just getting into this hobby. I will detail more about each individual frequent flyer program so that you are able to see where the best value opportunities lie, so you can plan accordingly, based on your goals and also, where you live. I can't list all the right and wrong scenarios in this post, but if you have any questions, or want a consultation for yourself, please leave the specifics in the comments. Thanks for reading!
Peace, love and an extra pack of peanuts,
LC
This is really a wonderful post.
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